“What do you think you’re doing?” Wench demanded, storming into Darkham’s home in the barracks. “Who is this woman?” Minx followed her sister. “Where is she? We’re going to have a word with her,” Wench insisted. Both were angry. “There’s no one. Dae isn’t my wife, nor will I ever think about that. She has a mate,” Darkham told them. He braced himself for the torrents to come. “Mate? She’s a dragon?” Minx asked. “Why did she claim to be your wife?” Wench wanted to know. “To help me get you two to come home.” “Home!?” Wench shouted. “Home? How can this place be home?” She gestured to the house they were in. “We’ve never been here before. We were home with our families.” “Grywell could never be my home,” Darkham spat. “You could go back. Your banishment was lifted,” Wench reminded him. “I was banished because I held my wife’s hand. What kind of people do that?” “The chieftain was overzealous in enforcing the law. His son made amends,” Wench pointed out. “We’re constantly at the whim of whichever chieftain is in charge. There’s no accountability. I’m not going back there, not to live.” “So you deceived us to get us to come to you.” “I did it because I need your help,” Darkham told them. “With what?” Minx asked. “A friend, and my brother.” Thailyn came out of the other room. He was leaning heavily on the wall and a cane. “Lyni!” Wench cried and hugged him. “We missed you.” Minx, not only hugged him, but she kissed him. He couldn’t resist. He kissed her back and kept kissing her, as though he wanted more. Darkham frowned. “Okay, okay, that’s enough.” “Are you considering my proposal?” Minx asked Thailyn. “Are you leaving Dark?” Thailyn countered. She gave a sidelong glance at her husband. “Despite his behavior lately, no.” “Then I can’t marry you.” “Knock it off you two,” Wench insisted. She was more likely to get jealous than Darkham. “What brother? Lyni, you don’t have a brother.” “Call me by my name now. No more hiding. I do have a brother and another sister. My dad’s alive and we found my mom.” “And they had twins?” Minx smiled at the thought. “How can he be old enough to need us?” Wench asked. “And what happened to you? You look almost as bad as when we met.” “I should probably sit,” Thailyn agreed. “You should get back to bed.” Darkham frowned. He moved to help Thailyn back to bed. “Now, what’s been going on?” Minx demanded. “They aren’t twins and they aren’t babies. Both my mom and dad had been captives, my mom by the Yarbs and my dad by Nor’than. They had children while in captivity. The king of Yarba’s Jaidu’s birth father. We don’t know who Wyrm’s birth mother is. Nor does he. He was raised by the immortal responsible for the White Wyrm trouble here and on Tricon. Wyrm’s having some difficulties being here.” “Well, of course he is,” Wench claimed. “You keep calling him Wyrm. What’s his name?” “He doesn’t have one. Cramda just call him Wyrm. He lied to him extensively. The poor kid’s so confused and scared. He thinks he’s a captive and expects to be killed any day now.” Darkham left and returned with several potions. He handed them to Thailyn. Thailyn frowned. “Already?” “If you want to be able to continue healing, yes.” Thailyn sighed and drank the potions, grimacing as he did. “What happened to you?” Minx asked. Thailyn shrugged. “Lots of things.” “First, he did emergency healing on his mother and then used his healing to take out several immortals. He then did more emergency healing while surrounded by copper, then he got his sternum broke again. And he won’t stay in bed, which is why he’s out here. He’s a hair’s breadth from a level IV with the damage on his heart. If he thinks is going to live to see his grandbaby’s birth, he needs to take it easy.” “Grandbaby? What grandbaby? What child?” Minx demanded. She looked shocked. “Maybe you should check Minx’s heart,” Thailyn suggested. “Thailyn!” Both women yelled. “When we first met, part of the reason why I was in such bad shape was that, in addition to having a broken sternum, I’d just lost my mate. She was hit in the chest by a lightning bolt.” Wench frowned. “Darina was killed that way. She was your mate? You’re the baby’s father?” Thailyn nodded. “Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t she?” Minx demanded. “It’s a long, complicated story. I don’t have the energy. But it’s the same reason I went by Lyni.” He hadn’t told any of them the full reason, but they had known he was hiding. “We wanted to tell you and would have once she got back.” “Tylan and Emeton adopted the little girl. That’s why you’re here,” Minx guessed. Thailyn nodded. “My whole family is here. It’s good to see her again. I’m just sorry I missed the wedding. I was on Tricon then.” “It was beautiful. She was a wonderful bride,” Minx sighed. “What about the friend you want us to help?” Wench asked. “A woman named Jo. She married Nim.” “Nim?” Minx frowned. “Kith’s friend? The dragon at the wedding who brought the girl everyone was talking about?” Darkham nodded. “That was Jo. They got married recently.” “So why does she need our help?” Wench asked. Minx was prone to get distracted at times. “Dark mentioned my recent healing. The reason was Cramda abducted a group of women and Jo was among them. Two years ago, just after Ann’s wedding, Nor’than had taken her too.” “I just heard that apparently, she’d been abducted as a child, too,” Darkham added. “Normally, she does something similar to you with helping people. In her land, they even have schooling for it. We would have her work with Wyrm, but she’s having trouble recovering herself. She and Nim won’t leave each other’s sides.” Wench and Minx looked at each other. Minx’s head cocked to one side. Wench raised an eyebrow. They looked like they were talking telepathically, but dwarves didn’t have that ability. Wench nodded. “We’ll do what we can.” She looked around. “Now, about this house.” “Hush, woman. You’re lucky I’m not sleeping in the barracks. A family of three gets a two-bedroom home. We’ll put two beds in the big room and you two can share. When Thailyn is done in here, I’ll use it. Maybe, if you two choose to stay, we can eventually find a place in town.” “You’re not living here?” Wench asked Thailyn. He shook his head. “No, I’m a hostage.” “He won’t stay in bed. I had him brought out here to keep a better eye on him. He’s been living in the palace.” “Only until I can find a place of my own.” “Only if you start doing as your healer says, and take it easy,” Darkham countered. “We’ll keep him in bed,” Wench assured him. They both had dealt with difficult patients in the past, including Thailyn.